PASSENGER  FARES 

ON 

AMERICAN  RAILWAYS 

ALSO    ON   THOSE    OF 

GREAT  BRITAIN  AND  GERMANY 


WITH  SPECIAL  REFERENCE 
TO  THE  AGITATION  FOR  A 
TWO  CENT  MAXIMUM  FARE 


PREPARED    FOR    THE 

GENERAL  MANAGERS'  ASSOCIATION  OF  CHICAGO 


BY  SLASON  THOMPSON 
BUREAU  OF  RAILWAY  NEWS 


CHICAGO  : 

GUNTHORP-WARRKN  PRINTING  COMPANY 
1906 


//E/757 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Introductory 3 

Passenger  Service  not  Self-Sustaining 4 

What  the  Past  Has  Proved 5 

Passenger  Earnings  and  Cost,  1888-1893 6 

Proportion  of  Passenger  Business  to  the  Whole 8 

Receipts  and  Cost  by  Groups,  1893 9 

Increased  Cost  of  Passenger  Service 10 

"             "       "  Equipment 11 

"             "      for  Labor '.  .  11 

Earnings  of  Passenger  Service  in  1904 11 

Cost  of                 "       ,         "       "     "     12 

Why  the  2-cent  Rate  is  Impracticable  13 

Average  Number  of  Passengers  in  Train 13 

Revenue  of  Passenger  Trains  per  Train  Mile 13 

Cost  of  Running  a  Train  One  Mile 14 

Why  Passenger  Traffic  in  America  is  Unprofitable 15 

American  and  European  Conditions  Compared 15 

Area,  Population  and  Railway  Mileage  in  the  United  States  and  Europe.  .  16 

Population  per  Square  Mile  of  European  Countries 17 

and  Railway  Mileage  per  Capita  in  the  United  States 18 

Passenger  Conditions  in  Eastern  States  19 

"                   "           in  Western  States '. 20 

in  Group  VI 21 

"                   "           in  New  England  Group 22 

in  Illinois*  ?.,,,... v  ............  4 23 

How  Passenger  Traffic  Obstructs  .Freight.  TV&tfie  J.I  .t 25 

Passenger  Fares  in  America  and 'England'  ,.*.!.?..••*...; 26 

Passenger  Conditions  in  .Germain      ...'.'. : '.,'.'  ..;..-..  „.». 27 

"           Fares  in  Germany:.:*;./.;  '..t .  ."•.;  i;»./-\  v  / 28 

"           Cars  in  Germany .**?.*..?.?. 29 

"           Statistics  for  Germany 30 

Cost  of  German  Railways 31 

"       "  American  Railways 31 

Conclusions 32 

Addenda  A — Increase  in   Frequency  and  Speed  of  Passenger  Service  in 

Wisconsin    34 

Increased  Passenger  Service  between  Chicago  and  Milwaukee 36 


Passenger  Fares  on  American  Railways. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


In  the  following  paper  it  is  assumed  as  indisputable: 

That  the  general  prosperity,  convenience  and  happiness  of  the 
American  people  are  inseparably  interdependent  on  efficient, 
accessible  and  prosperous  railway  service; 

That  the  public  scattered  over  3,000,000  square  miles  of  terri- 
tory cannot  expect  efficient,  accessible  and  adequate  service  from 
unprofitable  railways; 

That  to  be  profitable  and  progressive  railways  must  earn  suffici- 
ent income  not  only  to  pay  expenses  of  operation,  but  to  provide 
sufficient  net  income  to  pay  taxes  and  a  reasonable  return  on  capital 
actually  invested; 

That  low  freight  rates  are  the  first  essential  requirement  of 
American  railways  in  order  to  facilitate  the  interchange  of  the  com- 
mon commodities  of  commerce  and  civilized  existence — in  other 
words,  that  it  is  more  necessary  that  all  the  people  should  be  fed  and 
clad  in  summer  and  housed  and  heated  in  winter  than  that  a  minority 
of  them  should  travel; 

That  the  present  average  passenger  receipts  of  2  cents  per  mile 
is  a  mean  arrived  at  through  averaging  down  regular  fares  by  the  sale 
of  commutation  and  mileage  tickets,  excursion  rates  to  fairs,  conven- 
tions, conferences,  and  other  special  inducements  to  frequent  trips 
and  full  trains; 

That  if  it  can  be  demonstrated  that  this  mean  fare  does  not  pro- 
vide sufficient  income  to  make  the  railways  reasonably  profitable; 
the  establishment  of  that  mean  as  a  maximum  passenger  rate  would 
not  only  work  disaster  to  the  railways,  but  to  the  whole  country. 

That  state  legislatures  cannot  impose  passenger  rates  below 
the  remunerative  level  on  the  theory  that  the  railways  can  make  up 
the  deficiency  on  intrastate  passenger  business  either  from  domestic 
freight  or  interstate  passenger  traffic. 


PASSENGER  SERVICE  NOT  SELF-SUSTAINING. 

Although  it  is  incapable  of  positive  proof,  it  is  probably  a  fact 
that  the  passenger  traffic  of  American  railways  is  carried  on  at  the 
expense  of  the  freight  traffic. 

Freight  traffic  can  be,  and  is  made  to  pay  on  low  rates,  because 
it  can  be  moved  regularly  in  minimum  car  lots. 

Passenger  traffic  cannot  be  obtained  in  car  lots  or  20  per  cent, 
car  lots  with  any  degree  of  uniformity,  except  in  densely  peopled  dis- 
tricts; and  even  in  these  the  majority  of  passenger  cars,  starting 
packed,  arrive  at  their  destination  practically  empty,  or  starting 
empty  only  fill  up  as  they  approach  terminals. 

In  spite  of  this  there  is  a  widespread  agitation,  rising  to  the 
dignity  of  legislation  in  some  states,  demanding  that  the  fare  be  re- 
duced to  a  maximum  of  2  cents  per  mile. 

This  agitation  very  largely  rests  on  a  popular  misapprehension 
that  what  the  railways  receive  as  an  average  per  mile  they  could, 
under  legislative  pressure,  afford  to  adopt  as  a  maximum  rate. 
Whereas,  under  a  2  cent  maximum,  railways  could  only  prevent  a 
crippling  loss  by  reducing  the  frequency  and  speed  of  trains  and  greatly 
restricting  their  special  service  to  the  public. 


WHAT  THE  PAST  HAS  PROVED. 

For  eighteen  years,  or  ever  since  the  Interstate  Commerce  law 
went  into  effect,  the  receipts  per  passenger  mile  in  the  United  States 
have  averaged  2.058  cents.  This  is  only  .052  of  a  cent  above  the 
rate  in  1903  and  1904. 

During  the  twelve  years  since,  and  including  1894,  the  rate  per 
passenger  mile  has  averaged  1.999,  or  an  infinitesimal  fraction  under 
the  2  cents,  which  it  is  now  proposed  to  establish  as  a  maximum. 

While  it  may  not  be  possible  to  demonstrate  from  any  official 
data  that  average  earnings  of  2  cents  per  passenger  mile  do  not  cover 
the  average  cost  of  carrying  passengers  one  mile,  there  is  sufficient 
official  justification  for  the  assertion  that  the  margin  between  the 
two  is  so  small  as  to  leave  an  inadequate  sum  for  taxes,  fixed 
charges,  and  necessary  renewals,  to  say  nothing  of  dividends. 

In  the  First  Annual  Report  of  the  Statistician  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  dated  March  1,  1889,  Prof.  Henry  C.  Adams, 
who  still  occupies  that  post,  said: 

"The  question  which  arises  in  connection  with  the  apportion- 
ment of  expenses  between  passenger  and  freight  service  is  one  that 
cannot  be  determined  with  such  confidence.  One  point  only  re- 
specting it  lies  beyond  the  limit  of  reasonable  controversy,  and  that 
is,  that  such  apportionment  must  in  some  manner  be  made.  Not 
only  is  this  demanded  in  the  interest  of  comparative  statistics,  but 
it  is  of  great  importance  for  an  intelligent  judgment  on  relative 
freight  and  passenger  charges.  *  *  * 

"  The  rule  adopted  by  the  Commission  in  its  book  of  instructions 
for  the  guidance  of  carriers  in  making  their  annual  reports,  is  as 
follows : 

'  'All  expenses  which  are  naturally  chargeable  to  either  freight  or 
passenger  traffic  should  be  entered  in  their  respective  columns;  ex- 
penses which  are  not  naturally  chargeable  to  either  traffic  should  be 
apportioned  on  a  mileage  basis,  making  the  division  as  between 
freight  and  passenger  traffic  in  the  proportion  which  the  freight  and 
passenger  train  mileage  bears  to  the  total  mileage  of  trains  earning 


:     :  /  \  ;   :  6 

Under  this  rule,  for  six  years  the  Commission  apportioned  the 
earnings  and  expenses  per  passenger  and  ton  mile  as  follows: 

PASSENGER  TRAFFIC.  FREIGHT  TRAFFIC. 


1888 

Earnings  per 
mile  —  cents. 
2  349 

Expenses  per 
mile  —  cents. 
2  042 

Earnings  per 
mile  —  cents. 
1  001 

Expenses  per 
mile  —  cents. 
630 

1889  

2  165 

1  993 

922 

593 

1890 

2  167 

1  917 

941 

604 

1891 

2  142 

1  910 

895 

583 

1892  

2.126 

1  939 

898 

582 

1893.. 

2.108 

1.955 

.878 

.579 

This  table  demonstrates  that  the  ratio  of  cost  of  carrying 
passengers  one  mile,  which  in  1888  was  approximated  at  87  per  cent, 
of  the  receipts  per  passenger  mile  had  risen  to  nearly  93  per  cent,  in 
1893,  when  the  Commission,  perceiving  the  inevitable  tendency  of 
its  rule  would  soon  show  that  the  average  cost  exceeded  the  receipts, 
abandoned  any  attempt  at  an  apportionment  which  in  1888  it 
solemnly  said  "must  in  some  manner  be  made." 

The  decline  noticeable  in  the  expenses  of  passenger  service 
before  1891  has  been  permanently  checked  by  the  increased  cost  of 
everything  entering  into  that  service.  Trains  have  been  multiplied; 
their  speed  almost  doubled;  their  comforts  and  accommodations 
improved;  over  50  per  cent,  more  double  track  has  been  provided; 
block  signals  protect  passengers  train  on  50,087  miles — where  the 
block  system  was  scarcely  known  fifteen  years  ago — and  all  this 
without  any  proportionate  increase  in  the  number  of  passengers 
per  train  or  per  car. 

As  the  Railway  Commissioners  of  Iowa  in  their  report  for  1904 
said,  "The  people  of  Iowa  are  constantly  and  rightfully  demanding 
better  service  of  the  railways;  they  are  requiring  better  equipments, 
better  road-beds,  better  farm  and  highway  crossings,  and  a  better 
system  of  railway  generally."  And  it  should  be  added,  the  people, 
of  Iowa  are  getting  what  they  require  without  any  signs  of  reciprocal 
concessions  to  railways  in  the  matter  of  reasonable  fares  and  just 
rates.  The  working  co-efficient — that  is,  the  proportion  of  expenses 
to  earnings  of  railways  operating  in  Iowa  in  1904  was  74.87  per  cent., 
while  that  of  the  same  railways  for  their  entire  lines  was  only  66.04. 
These  figures  would  indicate  that  "the  Iowa  idea"  in  regard  to  rate 
regulation  had  already  transgressed  the  prohibition  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  that  "  The  state  cannot  justify  unreason- 
ably low  rates  for  domestic  transportation,  considered  alone,  upon 


the  ground  that  the  carrier  is  earning  large  profits  on  its  interstate 
business,  over  which,  so  far  as  rates  are  concerned,  it  has  no  control." 

At  present,  it  looks  as  if  their  reasonably  profitable  interstate 
business  were  all  that  enables  Iowa  railways  to  do  business  in  Iowa. 

According  to  the  table  just  given,  if  to  the  cost  of  operating  per 
passenger  mile  in  1893  there  had  been  added  a  proportionate  share 
of  the  taxes,  virtually  nothing  would  have  been  left  for  interest  on 
funded  debt. 

It  will  also  be  perceived  that  the  estimated  cost  per  ton  mile 
for  freight  absorbed  only  63  per  cent,  of  the  freight  earnings  in  1888 
and  less  than  66  per  cent,  in  1893,  the  co-efficient  in  the  freight  busi- 
ness permitting  a  reasonable  margin  to  take  care  of  taxes,  and  other 
fixed  charges  and  contribute  something  to  make  up  the  deficit  on 
passenger  traffic. 


PROPORTION  OF  PASSENGER  BUSINESS 
TO  THE  WHOLE. 


trustworthy  rule  exists  for  making  the  assignment"  of  cost  between 
passenger  and  freight  service,  which  he  did  in  1893,  he  had  produced 
the  following  official  estimates  of  the  proportion  of  earnings  and  ex- 
penses assignable  to  either  service: 

PASSENGER  SERVICE.  FREIGHT  SERVICE. 

Proportion  of  Proportion  of 

Earnings.            Expenses.  Earnings.            Expenses. 

1890 29.41                   33.52  68.23                   66.38 

1891 30.37                  34.08  67.45                  65.92 

1892 29.16                  33.49  68.58                  66.51 

1893 29.49                  33.85  68.23                  66.15 

If  the  "rule"  had  been  trustworthy,  here  was  a  demonstration 
that  the  passenger  service  was  costing  more  than  its  clue  proportion 
of  the  operating  expenses. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  in  1904  the  proportion  of  the  earnings  of 
the  passenger  service  to  the  total  earnings,  was  only  27.42  per  cent 
against  70.05  per  cent,  for  the  freight  service.  If  the  proportion  of 
the  expense  of  passenger  service  to  the  whole  is  practically  one-third , 
as  was  officially  estimated  in  1893,  the  disproportion  of  its  income 
now  is  nearly  50  per  cent,  greater. 

It  should  be  noted  that  receipts  from  "mail,  express  and  other 
earnings"  are  included  under  the  term  passenger  service.  In  1904 
the  proportion  of  total  earnings  received  from  passengers  alone  was 
only  22.50,  and  not  since  1896  has  it  been  above  23  per  cent.  Before 
that  it  ranged  between  24.48  and  26.58  per  cent.,  which  indicates  that 
proportionately  the  passenger  revenue  of  the  railways  is  less  to-day 
than  it  was  ten  years  ago. 

How  greatly  the  remunerative  character  of  the  passenger  service 
varies  with  the  different  physical  and  traffic  conditions  prevailing 
throughout  the  United  States  is  shown  in  the  following  statement 


of  the  results  by  groups  as  to  the  earnings  and  expenses  of  the  pass- 
enger service  in  1893,  compared  with  the  earnings  for  1904: 


Territory  Covered. 
Group  I                 

Revenue 
per  Passeng 
per  Mile 
Cents. 
1  890 

1893. 
Average  cost 
of  carrying 
er     One  Passenger 
;.             One  Mile. 
Cents. 
1.435 

1904. 

Revenue 
per  Passenger 
per  Mile. 
Cents. 
1.787 

Group  II  

1.939 

1.764 

d     1.751 

Group  III 

2  076 

1  923 

2  008 

Group  IV                  .    .  .    . 

2  406 

2.314 

2  371 

Group  V  

2.435 

x    2.581 

d    2.365 

Group  VI 

2  206 

2  003 

2  086 

Group  VII 

2  458 

x    2  609 

d    2  137 

Group  VIII    

2.249 

x    2.499 

d    2  .  283 

Group  IX  

2.413 

x    2.463 

d    2.319 

Group  X 

2  298 

2  155 

d     2  068 

1.955 


2.006 


United  States .  .  w 2 . 108 

x  Exceeds  revenue  per  passenger  mile. 

d  Less  than  cost  of  carrying  passengers  one  mile  in  1893. 

According  to  this  statement  in  no  less  than  four  of  these  groups 
the  average  cost  of  carrying  a  passenger  one  mile  was  greater  than 
the  revenue  per  passenger  mile.  These  groups  are: 

V.  Composed  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Georgia,  Alabama, 
Mississippi  and  Florida. 

VII.  Composed  of  Montana,  Wyoming,  Nebraska  and  parts 
of  Colorado  and  the  Dakotas. 

VIII.  Composed    of    Kansas,    Arkansas,    Oklahoma,    Indian 
Territory,  and  parts  of  Missouri,  Colorado  and  New  Mexico,  and 

IX.  Composed  of  Louisiana,  Texas,  and  a  part  of  New  Mexico. 
In  striking  contrast  to  these  groups  of  unremunerative  passenger 

revenue  territory,  stands  group  I,  which  in  1893  had,  and  probably 
to-day  has,  a  substantial  margin  between  the  average  receipts  and 
cost  of  its  passenger  service  per  mile.  This  group  is  composed  of  the 
New  England  States  and  is  possessed  of  an  average  density  of  popula- 
tion, which  makes  low  passenger  fares  consistent  with  reasonable 
remuneration  to  the  carrier. 

On  comparing  the  average  revenue  per  passenger  mile  in  1904 
with  what  was  the  estimated  cost  of  carrying  a  passenger  one  mile 
in  1893,  it  will  be  seen  that  in  six  groups  the  cost  exceeds  such  aver- 
age earnings,  while  the  excess  of  earnings  per  passenger  mile  in  three 
other  groups  is  so  slight  as  to  leave  an  insufficient  margin  for  taxes 
and  other  fixed  charges. 

Therefore,  if  the  cost  of  carrying  passengers  has  not  been  ma- 
terially reduced  since  1893,  the  conclusion  is  unavoidable  that  the 
passenger  traffic  of  the  railways  of  the  United  States  as  a  whole  is 
unremunerative,  and  a  maximum  rate  of  2  cents  a  mile  would  not 
only  be  unreasonable  but  actually  confiscatory. 


10 


INCREASED  COST  OF  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC. 

Instead  of  a  decrease  in  the  cost  of  passenger  traffic  since  1893, 
the  public  demand  for  higher  speed,  additional  trains,  more  con- 
veniences, and  greater  safety,  has  actually  advanced  the  expense 
beyond  what  it  was  when  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
estimated  it  as  1.955  cents  per  passenger  mile. 

The  safety,  comfort  and  convenience  of  the  traveling  public 
continuously  demand  that  railways  expend  liberal  sums  in  putting 
their  service  on  the  most  efficient  and  safe  basis.  To  do  this  lines 
must  be  double-tracked,  bridges  and  culverts  must  be  strengthened, 
heavier  rails  laid,  road  beds  remade,  interlocking  switches  installed, 
block  signals  introduced,  dangerous  grade  crossings  abolished,  and 
passenger  cars  must  be  stronger,  better  lighted,  heated  and  ven- 
tilated. 

As  an  instance  of  what  the  railways  are  doing  to  meet  the  public 
demand  for  safer  and  more  expeditious  passenger  service,  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  over  $32,000,000  has  been  spent  on  track  elevation 
in  Chicago  since  1893,  and  that  before  this  great  work  is  completed, 
it  will  cost  the  roads  centering  here  fully  $30,000,000  more. 

Compliance  with  such  demands  is  more  important  than  cheap 
fares,  and  yet  it  is  proposed  to  make  the  instalment  of  these  improve- 
ments more  difficult,  if  not  impracticable,  by  curtailing  the  income 
of  the  railways  from  the  very  service  in  whose  interest  the  expendi- 
tures are  most  clamorously  demanded. 

What  has  been  done  in  the  matter  of  increasing  the  speed  and 
frequency  of  passenger  trains  is  illustrated  by  concrete  examples  in 
Addenda  "A,"  which  gives  a  summary  prepared  by  officials  of  the 
Chicago  and  North  Western  Railway  of  the  number  and  speed  of  the 
trains  over  the  Wisconsin  division  of  that  line  for  the  years  1890  and 
1905.  These  show  an  increase  in  frequency  of  passenger  facilities, 
offrom25to  133  per  cent,  and  in  average  speed  from  five  per  cent. up 
to  nearly  40  per  cent.  What  is  true  of  this  one  line  in  Wisconsin 
has  been  duplicated  all  over  the  United  States  wherever  conditions 
have  invited  additional  transportation  facilities. 


11 

Aside  altogether  from  the  indivisible  expenditures  involved  in 
making  the  improvements,  partly  enumerated  above,  where  the  cost 
cannot  be  apportioned  between  passenger  and  freight  traffic,  there 
has  been  a  striking  advance  in  the  cost  of  the  equipment,  material 
and  labor  directly  chargeable  to  the  passenger  service. 

The  following  table  shows  the  increased  initial  cost  of  the  equip- 
ment employed  in  passenger  service : 

1893  1906 

Average  Average  Increase 

Cost.  Cost.  per  cent. 

Passenger  locomotives $9,800  $20,000  104 

Passenger  coaches 5,400  9,000  66 

Mail  Cars 3,900  7,500  92 

Baggage  cars 3,100  7,000  93 

Almost  incredible  as  these  advances  appear,  they  are  based 
on  the  actual  purchases  of  a  great  western  system  during  the  years 
in  question. 

The  wages  of  the  men  directly  employed  in  the  operation  of 
trains  show  the  following  increases: 

AVERAGE  DAILY  COMPENSATION.  Increase 

1893  1905  per  cent. 

Enginemen $3 . 66  $4.16  13.6 

Firemen 2.04  2.39  17.2 

Conductors 3.08  3.54  15.0 

Trainmen 1.91  2.31  21.0 

The  wages  of  all  other  employes  concerned  in  the  movement  of 
passenger  trains  show  proportionate  advances. 

Coincident  with  this  noteworthy  advance  in  the  wages  of  train 
crews,  the  number  of  this  class  of  railway  employes  has  increased 
from  179,636  in  1893  to  approximately  262,000  in  1905,  or  45.8  per 
cent. 

In  1904  fuel  for  locomotives  cost  $158,948,883  or  15.8  cents  per 
train  mile  against  only  $74,122,846  or  9.6  cents  per  train  mile  in  1894, 
the  first  year  the  official  statistics  give  figures  on  the  cost  of  fuel. 

In  1904  the  gross  earnings  of  the  passenger  service  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

Proportion  to 
Amount.  Total  Earnings. 

Passenger  revenue $  444,326,991  22 . 50 

Mail 44,499,732  2.25 

Express 41,875,636  2. 12 

Other  earnings  passenger  service 10,914,746  .55 


$  541,617,105  27.42 


12 


Computed  from  official  statistics  on  a  basis  of  ascertained  dis- 
tribution of  a  representative  western  system,  whose  passenger  earn- 
ings in  1904  were  27.41  per  cent,  of  its  total  earnings, — or  almost  pre- 
cisely the  same  proportion  as  for  all  the  railways  of  the  country — 
the  cost  of  this  service  was  approximately  as  follows: 


COST  ASSIGNED  TO  PASSENGER  SERVICE. 

Maintenance  of  way  and  structures  (45  per  cent,  of  whole) .  .  .  $117,389,000 

Maintenance  of  equipment  (30  per  cent,  of  whole) 80,057,000 

Transportation — 

Fuel  (27  per  cent.)    42,915,000 

Locomotive  water  and  supplies  (27  per 

cent.) 4,770,000 

Wages  (34  per  cent.)   92,339,000 

Train  Supplies  (50  per  cent.)   10,388,000 

Station  service  and  supplies  (50  per  cent.)  48,350,000 

Telegraph  expenses  (50  per  cent.) 11,681,000 

Advertising 5,937,000 

All  other  items  (34  per  cent.) 55,200,000 


General  expense  (50  per  cent.) 


TOTAL    (37.1  per  cent,  of  whole)  . 
Taxes  (37. 1  per  cent,  of  whole)    .  . 


$271,580,000 
25,689,000 

$494,715,000 
22,877,000 

$517,692,000 

Here  is  convincing  evidence  that  the  income  from  passengers 
alone  does  not  come  within  $73,000,000  of  meeting  the  expense  of 
the  passenger  service,  while  the  combined  revenue  from  passengers 
mail,  express,  etc.,  exceeds  the  cost  of  operation  by  only  $23,925,105. 

This  sum  is  equal  to  slightly  over  one  per  cent  on  one-third  of  the 
funded  debt  of  the  railways  of  the  United  States,  with  nothing  for 
dividends  on  an  equal  proportion  of  capital  stock. 

Clearly,  if  the  railways  had  to  depend  on  the  passenger  service 
to  pay  interest  on  capital  investment  the  majority  of  them  would  be 
forced  into  receiverships. 


13 

WHY  THE  2  CENT  RATE  IS  IMPRACTICABLE. 

This  brings  us  to  the  very  crux  of  the  conditions  which  render  a 
reduction  of  the  maximum  passenger  rate  to  a  2  cents  per  mile  basis 
impracticable  as  well  as  confiscatory. 

In  the  face  of  greatly  increased  initial  cost  for  material  and 
equipment  directly  chargeable  to  passenger  account,  and  of  every 
item  in  the  operation  of  passenger  trains,  especially  in  wages  and 
fuel;  with  more  and  faster  trains  constantly  demanded  by  the  public, 
the  average  number  of  passengers  per  train  has  remained  practically 
unchanged.  On  this  point  the  testimony  of  the  following  official 
record  would  seem  to  be  convincing: 

AVERAGE  NUMBER  OF  PASSENGERS  IN  TRAIN. 

Passengers  Passengers 

per  train.  per  train. 

1893 42  1899 41 

1894 44  1900 41 

1895  38  1901 42 

1896 39  1902 45 

1897 37  1903 46 

1898 39  1904 46 

In  1904  there  were  only  four  more  passengers  per  train  than  in 
1893,  and  only  two  more  than  in  1894,  an  increase  of  less  than  10  per 
cent,  in  the  former  comparison  and  less  than  4.6  percent,  in  the  latter 
instance. 

Confirmatory  of  the  lesson  of  this  statement  are  the  following 
figures  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  showing  the  revenue 
per  train  mile  of  passenger  trains  since  the  Commission  began  pub- 
lishing its  statistics : 


REVENUE  PER  T 

Per 
Year.                                          M 

1888                                          $ 

RAIN  MlL] 

Train 
ile. 
L.14 
.06 
.08 
.06 
.07 
.07 
.05 
.97 
.99 

E  OF  PASSENGER  TRAINS. 

Per  Train 
Year.                                         Mile. 
1897                                         K  0  94 

1889 

1898  •. 
1899 

97 
1  02 

1890 

1891 

1900  
1901 

1.01 
1  03 

1892 

1893 

1902 

1  08 

1894 

1903 

1  12 

1895 

1904 

1  14 

1896.. 

Here  is  practical  proof  that  almost  the  entire  increase  in  pass- 
enger earnings,  since  1888,  per  mile  of  road  opearted  has  come  from 


14 

additional  passenger  trains  and  not  from  an  increase  in  the  earnings 
per  train.  Moreover,  the  above  figures  include  earnings  of  pass- 
enger trains  from  mail,  express,  etc.,  which  have  increased  in  a 
greater  ratio  than  earnings  from  passengers  alone.  Since  .1890 
earnings  from  passengers  have  increased  70  per  cent.,  from  mail  90 
per  cent.,  from  express  106  per  cent.,  from  other  passenger  train 
service  120  per  cent.,  and  from  all  passenger  train  service 75  per  cent. 
During  this  period  the  official  statistics  show  that  the  average 
cost  of  running  all  trains  has  been  as  follows: 

AVERAGE  COST  OF  RUNNING  A  TRAIN  ONE  MILE. 
(All  Trains.) 

Cost  per  Cost  per 

train  mile.  train  mile. 

1890 $0.96.006  1898 $0.95.635 

1891 0.95.707  1899 0.98.390 

1892 0.96.580  1900 1.07.288 

1  1893 0.97.272  1901 1.12.292 

1894 0.93.478  1902 1.17.960 

1895 1.18.693  1903 1.26.604 

1896 0.93.838  1904 1.31.375 

1897 0.95.635 

Here  is  an  increase  of  nearly  37  per  cent,  in  the  average  cost  of 
running  all  trains.  What  proportion  of  this  should  be  assigned  to 
the  increased  expense  attending  the  operation  of  passenger  trains 
cannot  be  determined,  but  the  cited  facts  in  regard  to'wages  and  fuel 
indicate  that  it  must  be  at  least  20  per  cent,  or  double  the  increase  in 
the  number  qf  passengers  per  train. 

Unfortunately  for  the  railways  the  increase  of  passengers  per 
train  does  not  meet  this  increase  in  the  cost  of  the  passenger  service. 
Nor  does  the  promise  of  passenger  traffic,  outside  of  the  more  densely 
inhabited  territories  in  the  Eastern  states,  and  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  large  cities  in  the  West,  warrant  the  belief  that  passenger 
traffic  will  become  more  profitable  in  the  near  future. 


15 


WHY  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC  IN  AMERICA  IS 
UNPROFITABLE. 

The  cheap  passenger  fares  on  European  railways  are  always 
cited  as  an  argument  why  there  should  be  a  reduction  in  passenger 
fares  in  the  United  States. 

There  are  two  controlling  reasons  why  the  example  does  not 
apply. 

1.  The  cost  and  superiority  of  the  service  here,  and 

2.  The  absence  of  the  density  of  population  necessary  to  fill 
passenger  cars  in  paying  numbers. 

The  fundamental  distinction  between  passenger  and  freight 
transportation  that  "  goods  are  shipped,  while  men  travel  of  their 
own  volition,"  long  ago  determined  that  American  railways  should 
receive  their  chief  income  from  freight.  We  had  the  freight  and  the 
necessity  of  moving  it  long  distances  at  low  prices.  How  the  rail- 
ways responded  to  the  necessities  of  the  freight  situation  is  told  in 
two  lines: 

Receipts  per  ton  mile.  Average  train  load. 
Mills.  .        Tons. 

1893 8.78  183.97 

1904 7.80  307.76 

If  the  comparison  were  carried  back  five  years  and  were  brought 
down  to  1905  the  achievement  of  doubling  the  train  load  and  reduc- 
ing the  rate  one-quarter  would  be  the  amazing  record  of  American 
railway  management. 

The  economies  necessary  to  this  achievement — made  possible 
by  doubling  the  capacity  of  freight  cars,  quadrupling  the  tractive 
power  of  locomotives,  and  practically  reconstructing  many  lines — 
have  involved  additional  capital  expenditures  amounting  to  about 
$2,000,000,000  in  eleven  years,  allowing  three-quarters  of  a  billion 
on  passenger  account. 

AMERICAN  AND  EUROPEAN  CONDITIONS  COMPARED. 

As  has  been  said,  the  American  people  had  the  freight  to  ship, 
and  the  railways  met  the  demand  with  ever-increasing  efficiency  at 
ever-decreasing  rates. 

In  England  and  Europe  the  transportation  of  passengers  who 
presented  themselves  in  car  lots,  so  to  speak,  was  the  foremost  con- 
sideration of  the  railways. 


16 


It  was  a  case  of  catering  to  the  most  pressing  traffic  in  both 
instances.  They  had  the  people  in  paying  numbers  and  we  did  not. 
We  had  the  goods  in  paying  quantities  if  we  could  only  furnish  the 
transportation  facilities  at  low  figures. 

Although  the  population  of  the  United  States  is  less  than  one- 
quarter  that  of  Europe,  its  freight  ton  mileage  is  more  than  double. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  passenger  mileage  in  the  United  States  is  less 
than  half  that  of  Europe.  With  15  per  cent,  less  railway  mileage 
there  than  in  America,  European  railways  carried  more  than  five 
times  as  many  passengers. 

Every  transportation  authority  in  the  world  recognizes  that 
cheap  passenger  fares  must  be  preceded  by  an  actual  density  of 
traveling  population.  The  statistical  difference  between  conditions 
in  Europe  and  the  United  States  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  table 
giving  the  relation  of  railway  mileage  to  area  and  population  in  the 
United  States  and  various  countries  of  Europe. 

RELATIVE  AREA,  POPULATION  AND  RAILWAY  MILEAGE 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  EUROPE: 

From  Archiv  fur  Eisenbahnwesen. 


United  States  

Germany  
Austro-Hungary      (in- 
cluding  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovna)    

Area,         Popula- 
square           tion 
miles,     (thousands) 
2.993,480          78,595 
EUROPE. 
208,770         56,367 

261,210         47,118 

121,240          41,450 
207,110         38,962 

2,081,170        105,542 
110,660          32,475 
11,390           6,684 

13,750           5,341 
15,990            3,325 
191,860          17,961 
35,750            5,429 
14,870            2,449 
124,450            2,221 
172,940           5,136 
18,650            2,494 
50,700           5,913 
24,980            2,434 

103,090           9,824 
420               372 

Railway 
mileage 
1903. 
207,935 

33,819 

24,120 

22,461 
28,102 

33,093 
9,966 
4,237 

2,095 
2,575 
8,606 
1,487 
1,963 
1,456 
7,697 
359 
1,974 
643 

1,952 
68 

Miles  of  Railway, 
per  100  Per  10,000 
square         inhab- 
miles.         itants. 
6.9             26.5 

}6.2               6.0 

9.2              5.1 

18.5              5.4 
13.6              7.2 

1.6              3.1 
9.0              3.1 
37.2              6.3 

15.2               4.1 
16.1               7.7 
4.5               4.8 
4.2               2.7 
13.2               8.0 
1.2               6.6 
4.5             15.0 
1.9               1.4 
3.9              3.3 
2.6              2.6 

1.9              2.0 
16.3               1.8 

Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land   
France  
Russia,  in  Europe  and 
Finland  
Italy  
Belgium  

Netherlands  and  Luxen- 
burg  

Switzerland  

Spain 

Portugal 

Denmark  
Norway  

Sweden 

Servia  
Romania  

Greece 

Turkey  in  Europe,  Bul- 
garia and  Romania  . 
Malta,   Jersey,   Isle  of 
Man 

Total  for  Europe' ....     3,769,000       391,507        186,681 


5.0 


4.8 


17 

In  its  bearing  on  the  subject  of  passenger  rates,  the  most  signifi- 
cant feature  of  this  table  is  the  showing  that  we  have  26.5  miles  of 
railway  line  per  10,000  inhabitants  to  Europe's  4.8  miles.  This 
means  that  we  have  five  and  one-half  times  more  railway  mileage 
per  capita  than  Europe,  or,  to  put  it  another  way,  they  have  five  and 
one-half  times  greater  density  of  possible  passenger  patronage  than 
we  have. 

Nor  would  the  exclusion  of  Russia  from  the  totals  for  Europe  in 
this  instance  alter  the  force  of  the  comparison  to  an  appreciable 
degree.  Europe,  exclusive  of  Russia,  has  only  5.4  miles  of  railway 
per  10,000  inhabitants  to  26.5  miles  in  the  United  States. 

In  connection  with  the  above  table,  showing  the  relation  of 
railway  mileage  to  area  and  population,  the  student  must  not  lose 
sight  of  the  relation  of  population  to  area  shown  in  the  following 
summary  of  population  per  square  mile: 

Population  per 
square  mile. 

Germany 270 

Austro-Hungary 180 

France 188 

Great  Britain  and  Ireland 342 

Russia  in  Europe 50 

Italy 293 

Belgium 587 

Netherlands 388 

Switzerland 207 

Spain 93 

Portugal 151 

Denmark  164 

Norway 18 

Sweden 29 

Romania 116 

Turkey 95 

All  Europe 104 

Europe,  excluding  Russia 169 

UNITED  STATES  POPULATION  PER  SQUARE  MILE  ...  26 

From  the  above  tables  it  will  be  perceived  that  Belgium,  with 
its  587  inhabitants  per  square  mile,  its  37.2  miles  of  railway  per  100 
square  miles,  and  its  6.3  miles  of  railway  per  10,000  inhabitants, 
possesses,  in  a  peculiar  degree,  the  conditions  that  must  concur  to 
make  passenger  traffic  both  cheap  and  profitable. 

Contrast  these  conditions  with  those  prevailing  in  the  United 
States,  where  we  have  only  26  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile,  with 
nearly  7  miles  of  railway  per  100  square  miles,  and  26.5  miles  per 
10,000  inhabitants,  and  no  other  explanation  is  needed  why  .pass- 
enger rates  in  the  United  States  are  nominally  double  those  in  Bel- 
gium— unless  it  be  that  railway  wages  average  three  times  higher 
in  the  United  States  than  in  Belgium. 


18 


RAILWAYS  AND  POPULATION  IN  THE  SEVERAL  STATES' 

If,  as  has  been  shown,  the  population  density  of  Europe  with  its 
potentialities  for  remunerative  passenger  traffic  averages  five  and 
one-half  times  greater  than  in  the  United  States  as  a  whole,  the  con- 
trast as  to  pariticular  localities  is  emphasized  in  the  following 
table  showing  the  several  proportions  for  the  individual  states  of  the 
Union: 


DENSITY  OF  POPULATION  AND  RAILWAY  MILEAGE  PER  CAPITA  IN 
THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Miles  of  Railway. 

Area       Population  Population     Railway  Per  100    Per  10,- 

(land)  1903         per  sq.  Mileage  square  000  in- 

Sq.  miles,     (thousands)    mile.  1904  miles,  habitants 

Alabama 51,540  1,923  37  4,627  9.0  24.1 

Arizona 112,920  133  1  1,363  1.2  102.4 

Arkansas 53,045  1,366  26  4,051  7.6  29.6 

California 155,980  1,564  10  6,255  4.0  40.0 

Colorado 103,645  574  5  4,959  4.8  86.4 

Connecticut 4,845  956  97  1,017  21.0  10.6 

Delaware   1,960  189  196  31  15.4  16.0 

Delaware   1,960  189  96  301  15.4  16.0 

Dist.  of  Columbia  60  293        4,663  31  51.6  1.1 

Florida 54,240  566  10  3,534  6.5  62.4 

40  566  10  3,534  6.5  62.4 

Georgia 58,980  2,336  39  6,197  10.5  26.5 

Idaho 84,290  183  2  1,461  1.7  79.8 

Illinois 56,000  5,117  91  11,609  20.7  22.7 

Indiana 35,910  2,614  73  6,910  19.2  26.4 

Indian  Territory  .  31,000  455  14  2,532  ,8.2  55.6 

Iowa '-..  55,475  2,336  42  9,854  17.7  42.2 

Kansas 81,700  1,469  18  8,811  10.8  59.9 

Kentucky 40,000  2,230  55  3,242  8.1  14.5 

Louisiana 45,420  1,460  32  3,806  8.4  26.1 

Maine 29,895  702  23  1,964  6.6  26.0 

Maryland 9,860  1,231  125  1,371  13.9  11.1 

Massachusetts...  8,040  2,974  370  2,118  26.5  7.1 

Michigan 57,430  2,510  43  8,582  14.9  34.2 

Minnesota 79,205  1,857  23  7,741  9.8  41.7 

Mississippi 46,340  1,629  35  3,456  7.5  21.2 

Missouri 68,735  3,227  47  7,707  11.2  23.9 

Montana 145.310  277  2  3,260  2.2  117.9 

Nebraska 76^840  1,098  14  5,820  7.6  53.0 

Nevada 109,740  40  0.4  986  .9  246.5 

New  Hampshire ..  9,005  422  47  1,275  14.2  30.2 

New  Jersey 7,525  2,016  268  2,259  30.0  11.2 

New  Mexico  ..    ..  122,460  205  2  2,504  2.0  122.1 

New  York 47,620  7,659  160  8,297  17.7  10.8 

North  Carolina  ..  48,580  1,976  40  3,956  8.1  20.0 

North  Dakota  ...  70,195  357  5  3,190  4.5  89.3 

Ohio 40,760  4,302  105  9,128  22.4  21.2 

Oklahoma 38,830  495  13  2,611  6.7  52.7 

Oregon. 94,560  437  5  1,736  1.8  39.7 

Pennsylvania.   ..  44,985  6,606  147  10,933  24.3  16.5 

Rhode  Island  ...  1,053  454  431  211  20.1  4.6 

South  Carolina.  ..  30,170  1,397  46  3,143  10.4  22.5 

South  Dakota  ...  76,850  443  6  3,047  4.0  68.8 


19 


Tennessee  
Texas  

Area 
(land) 
Sq.  miles    ( 
41,750 
262,290 

Populat'n  I 
1903 
thousands) 
2,095 

3,285 

'opulat'n 
per  sq. 
mile 
50 
12 

Railway 
Mileage 
1904 
3,480 
11,823 

Miles  of 
Per  100 
square 
miles 
8.0 
4  5 

Railway 
Perl  0,000 
inhab- 
itants 
16.1 
35  9 

Utah 

82  190 

295 

3 

1  761 

2  1 

59  7 

Vermont 

9,135 

347 

38 

1  063 

11  6 

30  6 

Virignia  
Washington  

40,125 
66,880 

1,919 
581 

48 
9 

3,828 
3,298 

9.5 
4  9 

19.9 
56  7 

West  Virginia  .  .  . 
Wesconsin  
Wyoming  .  , 

24,645 
54,450 
97,575 

1,021 
2,155 
101 

41 
40 
1 

2,765 
7,043 
1,247 

11.2 
12.9 
1  3 

27.1 
32.7 
123  4 

TOTAL  (a)  .   .     2,970,230          79,900  27 

(a)     Includes  odd  hundreds  and  decimals. 


212,577 


7.1 


26.6 


PASSENGER  CONDITIONS  IN  THE  EAST. 

Here  it  is  seen  that  Rhode  Island  is  the'only  state  in  the  Union 
which,  in  population  per  square  mile  and  railway  mileage  to  popula- 
tion presents  anything  like  the  favorable  passenger  traffic  conditions 
common  in  England  and  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  But  even  in 
Rhode  Island  the  average  railway  mileage  to  area  is  four  times  that 
of  Europe.  Belgium  is  the  only  country  in  Europe  which  has  more 
miles  of  railway  per  100  square  miles  than  Rhode  Island,  and  Bel- 
gium has  a  density  of  population  almost  30  per  cent,  greater  than  that 
of  our  densely  peopled  miniature  state. 

Rates  of  fare  in  Rhode  Island  for  local  tickets  range  from  1.919 
cents  per  mile  on  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  road, 
which  carries  99  per  cent,  of  the  traffic,  to  5  cents  per  mile  on  a  little 
3.40  mile  road;  and  commutation  tickets  from  0.584  cents  par  mile 
on  the  former  road  to  2J  on  the  latter,  which,  by  the  way,  is  operated 
at  a  loss. 

In  Massachusetts,  where  the  passenger  traffic  conditions  approach 
the  European  standard  of  density,  the  average  receipts  in  1905  were 
1.70  cents  per  passenger  mile,  with  an  average  journey  of  17.75  that 
has  been  gradually  lengthening  because  of  trolley  competition 
in  the  short  haul  business. 

The  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad,  which  is  the 
great  passenger  road  of  Massachusetts,  derives  nearly  one-half  of  its 
income  from  passenger  traffic  and  it  finds  it  profitable  on  an  average 
of  1.70  cents  per  mile,  because  its  train  loads  averages  76  passengers 
to  the  mile,  with  an  average  journey  of  18.57  miles.  But  its  co- 
efficient of  71.69  operating  expenses  to  operating  income  proves  that 
even  under  such  favorable  conditions  passenger  traffic  swells  operat- 
ing cost  in  greater  proportion  than  with  roads  where  the  freigh; 
traffic  predominates. 


20 

The  only  other  states  in  which  there  is  the  slightest  approach  to 
European  conditions  are  Connecticut,  Maryland,  New  Jersey  and 
New  York.  Even  Pennsylvania,  with  its  compact  area  and  indus- 
trial millions  has  nothing  like  the  favorable  passenger  traffic  condi- 
tions that  are  common  to  all  Europe.  It  has  more  miles  of  railway 
per  100  square  miles  of  territory  than  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and 
175  per  cent,  more  railway  mileage  per  capita.  It  is  worthy  of  note, 
however,  that  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading  Railway,  which  has  a 
passenger  traffic  somewhat  analogous  to  that  of  lines  out  of  London, 
England,  with  an  average  journey  of  less  than  13  miles,  shows  aver- 
age passenger  receipts  of  1.581  cents  per  mile.  But  the  passenger 
conditions  throughout  the  state  are  such  as  to  force  the  average  for 
all  roads  up  to  over  the  2  cent  mean. 

PASSENGER  CONDITIONS  IN  THE  WEST. 

Ohio,  which  has  recently  enacted  a  2  cent  maximum  rate  law, 
is  far  from  possessing  the  density  of  population  to  railway  mileage 
necessary  to  make  passenger  traffic  remunerative  even  on  a  2  cent  a 
mile  average,  much  less  as  a  maximum.  With  only  a  trifle  over  one- 
third  the  density  of  population  to  area  of  Germany,  for  instance,  it 
has  more  than  three  times  the  railway  mileage  per  10,000  inhabitants. 

Ohio  falls  within  Group  III  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission's territorial  divisions,  along  with  Indiana  and  Southern 
Michigan,  for  which  the  official  reports  give  44  passengers  to  the  train, 
which  is  below  the  average  for  the  whole  country.  The  average  cost 
of  carrying  a  passenger  one  mile  in  this  group  in  1893  was  1.923  cents 
against  average  receipts  of  2.076  cents  per  passenger  mile,  which  had 
decreased  to  2.008  cents  in  1904. 

What  is  true  of  Ohio  is  in  a  greater  degree  true  of  its  sister  states 
in  Group  III.  Indiana,  with  a  density  of  population  to  area  of  only 
73  per  square  mile  has  26.4  miles  of  railway  per  10,000  inhabitants; 
and  Michigan,  with  only  43  inhabitants  per  square  mile,  is  generously 
provided  with  34.2  miles  of  railway  to  each  10,000. 

Michigan  has  what  is  called  a  graded  law  as  to  passenger  rates. 
Roads  earning  $3,000  per  mile  from  passengers  are  restricted  to  a 
2  cent  per  mile  rate;  roads  earning  between  $2,000  and  $3,000  per 
mile  have  a  maximum  of  2J  cents,  and  roads  earning  less  than  $2,000 
per  mile  may  charge  3  cents.  The  Michigan  Central  and  the  Pere 
Marquette,  which  are  the  principal  railways  of  Michigan,  do  not  earn 
over  $3,000  per  mile  from  their  passenger  traffic  alone  in  Michigan, 
although  the  former  does,  from  its  passenger  service,  including  mail 
and  express. 


21 

On  the  Michigan  Central  the  number  of  passengers  per  train  in 
1905  was  42,  and  on  the  Pere  Marquette  39.  The  average  number 
of  passengers  to  the  car  was  7.3  for  the  former  and  9.9  for  the  latter. 

The  effect  of  the  Michigan  law  on  those  roads  which  it  affected 
at  all,  was  a  reduction  in  passenger  earnings.  One  road  had  an 
increase  of  6  per  cent,  in  travel  and  a  decrease  of  over  12  per  cent,  in 
its  passenger  earnings. 

TRAFFIC  CONDITIONS  IN  GROUP  VI. 

Group  VI,  which  contains  22  per  cent,  of  the  railroad  mileage  of 
the  country,  and  includes  the  great  states  of  Illinois,  Iowa,  Wisconsin, 
Minnesota,  the  Northern  Peninsula  of  Michigan,  the  northern  por- 
tions of  Missouri,  and  the  eastern  sections  of  the  Dakotas — an  em- 
pire with  an  area  nearly  double  that  of  Germany — presents  condi- 
tions that  make  passenger  traffic  with  any  restrictions  as  to  maxi- 
mum rate  peculiarly  onerous  on  the  railways  which  traverse  it. 

It  has  a  population  of  only  38  to  the  square  mile  where  Germany 
has  270,  and  Rhode  Island  454,  but  for  this  population  is  provided 
47,597  miles  of  railway  or  35  miles  per  10,000  inhabitants  to  6  miles 
in  Germany  and  4.6  in  Rhode  Island. 

Low  freight  rates  are  the  first  essential  to  the  development, 
prosperity  and  civilization  of  this  splendid  domain  of  forest  and 
prairie,  mine  and  growing  manufactures,  and  in  the  year  1904  the 
railways  furnished  it  at  an  average  rate  of  7.79  mills  per  ton  mile, 
or  a  fraction  below  the  average  for  the  whole  country.  And  al- 
though passenger  traffic  imposes  numberless  burdens  and  restric- 
tions on  freight  traffic,  this  low  freight  charge  was  made  without 
placing  any  restrictive  rate  on  the  passenger  traffic,  as  the  average 
rate  of  2.086  cents  per  passenger  mile  testified. 

The  following  table  presents  the  passenger  situation  in  this 
territory  as  seen  through  the  reports  of  the  great  railway  systems 
centering  in  Chicago,  including  several  operating  in  eastern  territory: 


Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  .  . 
Baltimore  &  Ohio 

Average      Average 
number     passenger 
passengers     cars  in 
in  train.         train. 
45             5.56 
48             5.02 

Average 
passenger 
journey, 
miles. 
87.53 
45.46 

Average 
receipts  per 
passenger 
mile,  cents. 
2.144 
1.959 

Chicago  &  Alton  
Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois 

.x         75             5.25 
4  .  66 

73.60 
28.39 

1.730 
2.099 

Chicago  &  Erie  
Chicago  &  North-  Western 

41             6.08 
42.            4  .  81 

69.98 
30.73 

1.649 
2.017 

Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy. 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul. 
Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific  . 

.x         54             5.00 
37             5.03 
41             4.91 

55.05 
43.55 
45.03 

1.955 
2.243 
2.135 

22 

Chicago  Great  Western 35  5.06  40 . 96  2 . 038 

Chicago,  Indianapolis  &  Louisville  44  3.27  42 . 64  2 . 061 

Illinois  Central 50  5.19  26 . 96  1 . 839 

Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern .  48  6 . 35  59 . 52  2 . 055 

Michigan  Central 42  5.78  63.36  2.082 

New  York,  Chicago,  &  St.  Louis .  x  73  7.01  93 . 77  1 . 563 
Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  & 

St  Louis 48  3.75  32.33  1.925 

Pittsburgh,  Ft.  Wayne  &  Chicago .  42  3 . 29  27 . 26  1 . 992 

Wabash x  56  4.88  80.81'  1.668 

Wisconsin  Central 38 ,  5 .03  57 . 57  2 . 000 

x  Affected  by  World's  Fair  excursion  travel. 


This  is  one  of  the  most  instructive  tables  ever  prepared  in  rela- 
tion to  the  passenger  service  on  American  railways.  It  accounts  for 
the  unremunerative  character  of  their  passenger  traffic. 

Wherever  through  any  circumstances  the  train  load  has  risen 
over  50  the  average  receipts  show  that  the  traffic  was  carried  at  an 
average  below  2  cents. 

These  reports  cover  the  closing  half  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
Exposition  when  the  attendance  was  heaviest  and  the  returns  for  all 
the  roads  running  into  St.  Louis,  show  the  effect  of  excursion  rates 
in  enlarged  train  loads  of  passengers. 

It  should  be  noticed  that  there  was  no  marked  increase  in  the 
number  of  passenger  cars  to  the  train  to  accommodate  the  increased 
number  of  passengers.  The  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul,  with 
37  passengers  per  train,  had  only  a  quarter  of  a  car  less  per  train  than 
the  Chicago  &  Alton,  which  carried  twice  as  many,  passengers  per 
train. 

In  order  to  emphasize  the  conditions  disclosed  in  the  foregoing 
table,  they  should  be  studied  in  connection  with  the  following  figures 
from  the  reports  of  the  three  great  New  England  systems  as  made 
to  the  Board  of  Railroad  Commissioners  of  Massachusetts: 

Average  Average  Average  Average 

passengers  passenger  passenger  receipts  per 

per  train  cars  in  journey,  passenger 

mile.  train.  miles.  mile,  cents. 

Boston  and  Albany 72                23 . 71  1 . 64 

Boston  and  Maine 62  4.35  18. 17  1 .76 

New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford         76  4.28  18.57  1.70 

When  legislators  can  guarantee  an  average  of  14  to  17  passengers 
per  car  (whose  upholstered  seating  capacity  is  60)  over  their  average 
haul,  they  will  meet  with  little  opposition  to  a  2  cent  maximum  rate 
from  railways  of  the  United  States.  But  with  an  average  below  9 
passengers  to  the  car  a  maximum  rate  of  2  cents  per  mile  approaches 
if  it  does  not  transgress,  the  limit  where  confiscation  begins. 


23 

PASSENGER  CONDITIONS  IN  ILLINOIS. 

Illinois,  with  its  remarkable  provision  of  20.7  miles  of  railway 
per  100  square  miles  and  22.7  miles  per  10,000  inhabitants,  presents 
the  most  favorable  passenger  traffic  conditions  of  Group  VI.  It  has 
double  the  population  per  square  mile  possessed  by  Iowa  or  Wis- 
consin, and  nearly  quadruple  that  of  Minnesota.  Generously  as  it 
is  provided  with  railways,  its  railway  mileage  per  capita  is  scarcely 
half  that  of  Iowa  and  Minnesota,  and  barely  two-thirds  that  of  Wis- 
consin. 

And  yet  when  the  passenger  conditions  in  Illinois  are  compared 
with  those  of  the  New  England  States  or  of  all  Europe,  their  density 
offers  no  encouragement  that  a  two  cent  maximum  rate  can  be  im- 
posed without  being  unprofitable  or  destructive  to  efficient  and  im- 
proved service. 

Illinois  has  about  one-half  the  population  density  of  France  or 
Austria-Hungary;  one-third  that  of  Germany;  one-quarter  that  of 
Holland;  one-fifth  that  of  Rhode  Island,  and  one-sixth  that  of  Bel- 
gium. In  this  essential  respect  it  is  about  on  a  par  with  Turkey, 
which  has  only  2  miles  of  railway  to  10,000  inhabitants. 

But  in  point  of  railway  mileage  per  capita,  Illinois  has  one  mile 
where  Germany  and  Belgium  have  a  third  of  a  mile,  where  Austria- 
Hungary  has  less  than  a  quarter,  where  Holland  has  one-fifth,  and 
all  Europe  less  than  a  quarter. 

In  1871  the  passenger  rates  in  effect  in  Illinois  were  from  3J  to 
6  cents  per  mile,  averaging  for  all  roads  about  4.25  cents. 

In  1895,  or  only  ten  years  ago,  the  passenger  rates  were  from 
1  \  to  3  cents  per  mile,  averaging  for  all  roads  2.26  cents  per  mile. 

In  1905  the  passenger  rates  were  from  1J  to  3  cents  per  mile, 
averaging  for  all  roads  1.93  cents  per  passenger  per  mile. 

Commutation  tickets  on  several  of  the  roads  leading  out  of 
Chicago  within  a  radius  of  25  to  40  miles  are  sold  at  a  rate  as  low  as 
half  a  cent  per  mile,  or  nearly  as  low  as  the  military  rate  paid  in  Ger- 
many for  stand-up  privileges  in  box  cars  or  slow  trains.  Such  com- 
mutation rates  are  only  possible  where  the  traffic  guarantees  full 
coaches  daily  in  and  out  313  days  of  the  365  in  the  year. 

While  the  mean  passenger  rate  in  Illinois  has  been  gradually 
declining  from  an  average  of  4J  cents  in  1871  to  a  fraction  under  2 
cents  in  1905,  the  service  has  steadily  improved  in  speed,  comfort, 
promptness  and  frequency  at  an  increased  cost  per  unit.  If  this 
increased  cost  of  the  passenger  service  had  not  been  attended  by  an 
enormous  increase  in  the  freight  business,  the  railways  of  Illinois 
would  have  known  neither  profits  nor  progress. 


24 

The  difference  in  the  equipment  and  service  on  the  Chicago  & 
Alton,  for  instance,  between  1874  and  1905,  is  almost  in  inverse  ratio 
to  the  difference  between  the  mean  passenger  rate  of  3.267  cents  per 
mile  in  1874  and  1.730  cents  in  1905. 

Its  best  passenger  train  between  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  in  1905, 
the  locomotive  of  which  alone  cost  as  much  as  the  whole  train  in 
1880,  is  scheduled  to  make  the  run  in  eight  hours  compared  with 
eleven  hours  and  twenty  minutes  for  the  "Alton  Limited"  of  only 
twenty-five  years  ago. 

There  were  only  two  Chicago  &  Alton  trains  each  way  between 
Chicago  and  St.  Louis  in  1880  to  four  each  way  now. 

What  has  been  the  experience  of  the  Chicago  &  Alton  is  rela- 
tively true  of  the  passenger  service  on  every  other  road  running  out 
of  Chicago  to  every  point  this  side  of  the  Pacific. 

What  is  true  in  regard  to  the  conditions  as  to  passenger  service 
in  Illinois  is  true  in  a  more  striking  degree  of  its  sister  states  of 
Group  VI  and  the  West. 

Iowa  with  half  the  population  per  square  mile  and  nearly  double 
the  railway  mileage  per  capita; 

Wisconsin  with  less  than  half  the  population  per  square  mile 
and  44  per  cent  more  railway  mileage  per  capita; 

Minnesota  with  little  more  than  one-quarter  the  population 
per  square  mile  and  84  per  cent  more  railway  mileage  per  capita; 

Missouri  with  about  the  same  railway  mileage  per  capita,  but 
with  only  half  the  density  of  population  per  square  mile; 

Kansas  with  only  one  fifth  the  density  of  population  and  164 
per  cent  more  railway  mileage  per  capita; 

Nebraska  with  less  than  one-sixth  the  density  of  population 
and  133  per  cent  more  railway  mileage  per  capita — to  say  nothing  of 
the  states  farther  west, — all  are  even  further  removed  than  Illinois 
from  the  conditions  of  potential  passenger  patronage  that  would 
warrant  a  limitation  of  the  passenger  rate  to  two  cents  a  mile. 

If  such  a  rate  would  impose  unbearable  financial  burdens  on 
Illinois  it  would  surely  be  disastrous  in  states  with  comparatively 
sparser  population  and  railway  facilities  far  exceeding  the  possibilities 
of  a  profitable  passenger  business 

There  must  be  a  line  beyond  which  losses  incurred  on  passenger 
traffic  can  not  be  made  good  through  progressive  economies  in 
handling  freight. 


25 

HOW  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC  OBSTRUCTS  FREIGHT 
TRAFFIC. 

As  intimated  above,  not  only  is  passenger  traffic  on  American 
roads  conducted  at  the  expense  of  the  earnings  from  freight,  but  its 
operating  requirements  all  tend  to  obstruct  and  interrupt  the  free 
and  economical  handling  of  the  business,  which  literally  as  well  as 
figuratively  "pays  the  freight." 

It  is  a  universally  acknowledged  fact  among  operating  officials 
that  the  carrying  capacity  of  their  roads  is  heavily  handicapped  by 
the  necessity  of  making  freight  trains  surrender  the  "right  of  way" 
to  passenger  trains. 

Although  so  much  inferior  from  the  exchequer  point  of  view 
in  the  proportion  of  at  least  1  to  2,  on  the  rails  the  passenger  traffic 
is  given  invariable  precedence  as  "superior."  From  Maine  to 
California  every  moment  of  the  24  hours  freight  trains  are  consuming 
coal  and  eating  out  their  profits  in  sidings  waiting  for  scheduled  and 
special  passenger  trains  to  pass.  The  wages  of  the  employes  and  the 
interest  on  the  investment  in  freight  locomotives  and  cars  goes  on 
all  the  time  in  costly  tribute  to  the  "local  accommodation"  as  well 
as  to  the  flying  "limited." 

The  chief  operating  official  of  a  great  western  system  has  esti- 
mated that  the  freight  carrying  capacity  of  his  road  would  be  in- 
creased over  100  per  cent  if  it  were  not  for  the  procession  of  passenger 
trains  for  which  the  "freights"  have  to  make  way. 

Instead  of  this  burden  being  lessened  as  the  years  go  by,  it  is 
increased  by  every  demand  made  upon  the  passenger  service  for 
more  trains  or  greater  speed.  Each  additional  passenger  train  puts 
every  freight  train  on  its  route  into  one  more  siding  at  least  every 
trip  it  makes,  and  may  necessitate  the  complete  revision  of  running 
orders  over  a  whole  system.  This  increases  the  cost  of  the  freight 
business  directly  and  adds  indefinitely  to  the  expenses  for  switching 
and  other  incidents  of  the  service. 

Except  on  a  four  track  road  the  interference  of  one  class  of 
traffic  with  the  other  is  continuous,  unavoidable,  perplexing  and 
costly.  Only  on  tracks  devoted  exclusively  to  passengers  can 
passenger  traffic  be  conducted  with  the  best  economic  results,  and 
American  conditions  do  not  warrant  the  original  outlay  necessary 
to  the  construction  of  four  tracks  over  the  long  distances  prevailing 
in  this  country.  Doubling  the  tracks  does  not  obviate  the  difficulty 
except  as  to  trains. moving  in  opposite  directions. 


26 


PASSENGER  FARES  IN  AMERICA  AND  ENGLAND 

In  the  agitation  for  reduced  passenger  fares  in  America  constant 
comparison  is  made  to  the  cheap  fares  in  England  and  on  the  con- 
tinent. Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  physical  and 
population  conditions  which  make  such  fares  feasible  there. 

But  it  is  a  question  whether  the  low  fares  of  Europe  relatively 
to  character  and  -cost  of  the  service  and  the  prevailing  rates  of  wages 
are  actually  as  cheap  as  the  average  throughout  the  United  States. 

Taking  up  first  the  case  of  the  United  Kingdom,  where  the  rail- 
ways are  managed  by  private  companies  under  government  regula- 
tion, it  appears  that  there  the  passenger  traffic  in  1904  contributed 
47  per  cent  of  the  gross  receipts  and  that  it  came  from  the  differ- 
ent sources  in  the  following  proportions: 

BRITISH  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC  IN  1904. 

Number.  Recci  t\ 
Ordinary  passengers: 

First  class '. 34,931,000  $  17,145,000 

Second  class 71,294,000  16,325,000 

Third  class 1,092,549,000  146,910,000 

Season  ticket  holders: 

First  class 130,789  7,185,000 

Second  class 169,272  5,190,000 

Third  class 343,812  7,565,000 


TOTAL... 1,199,417,873      $200,320,000 

Excess  luggage,  mails,  parcels,  carriages,  horses,  » 

dogs,  etc 41,610,000 

TOTAL $241,930,000 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  third  class,  while  90  per  cent  in 
numbers,  contributed  only  73  per  cent  of  the  receipts.  This  is  ac- 
counted for  by  the  following  statement  of  average  receipts  per  pas- 
senger excluding  season  ticket  holders: 

FARES  AND  PASSENGER  RECEIPTS  IN  ENGLAND. 

Receipts  per 

Standard  fares  Receipts  per  passenger 
per  mile.             passenger.  per  mile. 

First  class 4.00  cents.  47.2  cents.  3.20  cents. 

Second  class 2.50       "  22.0       "  2.20       " 

Third  class 2.00       "  13.0       "  1.70       " 

Season  ticket  holders  .  .  .  67       " 


All  classes  .  .  14.4  cents.          1 .559  cents. 


27 

The  average  distance  traveled  per  passenger  on  British  railways 
is  only  7.8  miles,  and  the  average  number  of  passengers  per  train  is 
52.81. 

As  the  cost  of  running  a  train  in  the  United  States  due  to  the 
difference  in  wages  and  accommodations  is  at  least  50  per  cent 
greater  (in  the  matter  of  wages  it  is  100  per  cent  greater)  than  in 
Great  Britain  to  be  as  remunerative  as  the  British  fare  the  average 
American  rate  would  have  to  be  2.338  cents  per  mile. 

There  are  commutation  tickets  sold  on  many  of  the  railways  of 
the  United  States  below  the  .67  cent  average  per  mile  for  British 
season  tickets.  As  above  stated,  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and 
Hartford  has  such  a  rate  at  .58  cent  per  mile.  The  writer's  monthly 
ticket  on  a  Chicago  road  provides  on  its  face  for  a  .475  cent  rate 
per  mile  and  in  actual  use  frequently  figures  out  a  .53  cent  average 
per  mile. 

The  average  for  the  first  class  British  season  ticket  per  mile 
figures  out  .84  cent  and  the  second  class  .70  cent  per  mile. 

A  car  full  of  commuters  at  J  cent  a  mile  provides  nearly  twice 
as  much  passenger  revenue  as  the  average  American  car  load  at 
2  cents,  and  costs  little  more  to  operate.  The  trouble  in  America 
is  to  find  the  passengers  to  fill  the  cars  continuously,  as  they  do  in 
England. 

In  England  the  average  freight  receipts  in  1903  were  calculated 
by  the  London  Statist,  the  highest  authority  on  such  matters,  at 
1.192  pence  or  2.394  cents  per  ton  mile. 

The  average  rate  in  the  United  States  last  year  was  approxi- 
mately .757  cent  per  ton  mile. 

PASSENGER   CONDITIONS    IN    GERMANY. 

Of  all  the  countries  of  Europe,  Germany  is  most  frequently  cited  as 
possessing  a  railway  passenger  service  which  should  put  American  rail- 
ways to  shame.  The  chief  reason  for  this  is  that  nearly  92  per  cent 
of  the  German  Railways  are  owned  and  operated  by  the  government. 
To  be  sure  travelers  returning  from  Germany  tell  a  very  different 
story.  They  testify  that  for  anything  like  similar  conveniences, 
comfort  and  speed  the  comparison  is  all  in  favor  of  American  rail- 
ways. In  the  matter  of  cheap  rates  they  are  not  often  in  a  position 
to  speak,  for  Americans  in  Germany  always  travel  from  choice,  first 
or  second  class,  and  it  is  only  in  the  third,  fourth  and  military  classes, 
for  which  the  accommodations  range  from  hard  board  seats  down 
to  standing  room  in  box  cars,  where  there  are  cheap  rates. 


28 

In  Germany  only  9  per  cent  of  the  travel  is  first  or  second  class. 
In  America  probably  90  per  cent  is  first  class. 

"The  standard  fares  in  Prussia  are  classified  according  to  ac- 
commodations and  speed  of  trains  as  follows: 

PASSENGER  FARES  IN  GERMANY. 


First  class   .    . 

Ordinary  trains 
per  mile, 
cents. 
3  06 

Fast  trains 
per  mile, 
cents. 
3  45 

Second  class 

2  30 

2  55 

Third  class  

1  53 

1  79 

Fourth  class  . 

.77 

"Fourth  class  cars  are  not  run  on  express  trains.  Return 
tickets  are  sold  for  one  and  one-half  times  the  one  way  charge. 
Reduced  rates  are  charged  for  Sunday  tickets,  season  tickets  for 
workmen  traveling  fourth  class,  for  soldiers,  and  for  school  children. 

"  Baggage  to  the  weight  of  55  pounds  may  be  taken  in  the  first 
three  classes. 

"The  average  receipts  per  passenger  mile  in  Prussia  is  only  1.05 
cents. 

"This  low  average  is  due  to  several  facts,  one  being  that  nine- 
tenths  of  the  travel  is  confined  to  the  classes  below  the  second. 

"Another  is  that  a  large  percentage  of  the  tickets  are  sold  at 
special  rates,  while 

"  A  third  cause  is  that  the  railroads  of  Prussia  do  a  large  subur- 
ban business  that  is  handled  by  trolley  companies  in  the  United 
States." 

These  quoted  statements  are  from  "American  Transportation" 
(1903),  by  Emory  R.  Johnson,  Ph.D.,  Assistant  Professor  of  Trans- 
portation and  Commerce,  University  of  Pennsylvania,  and  member 
of  the  Isthmian  Canal  Commission,  1899  to  1900. 

Of  the  ordinary  accommodations  provided  for  the  fourth  class 
and  for  the  military,  which  may  be  considered  a  fifth  class,  Professor 
Johnson  says: 

"The  coaches  are  but  little  better  than  box  freight  cars,  some- 
times with  and  sometimes  without  benches."  They  are  never  at- 
tached to  fast  trains. 

Of  the  other  accommodations  he  says: 

"The  third  class  car,  or  compartment,  contains  comfortable 
seats  without  upholstery,  and  until  recently  the  third  class  had  no 
toilet  accommodations. 

"In  the  second  class  the  passenger  is  given  more  room,  he  has 
an  upholstered  seat,  and  his  compartment  has  an  adjoining  toilet. 


29 

"The  first  class  compartment  has  more  elegant  fittings  and 
appointments  than  the  second  class,  but  the  comforts  are  practically 
the  same." 

Moreover  these  cars  are  divided  into  no  less  than  ten  classes, 
according  to  the  class  of  the  compartments  they  contain.  These 
with  the  number  of  cars  in  each  class  in  1898  and  1904,  were  as 
follows : 


Clas.-s  of 
Cars 
1 

Class  of 
Compartment. 
I 

Number 
1898 
167 

of  Cars. 
1904 
155 

2 

I     II 

6,271 

6,263 

3     

I     II    III 

254 

770 

4 

II 

2,078 

2,739 

5 

II     III 

3,167 

3,993 

6         .  .  .    . 

II     III     IV 

43 

36 

7  

III 

16,825 

20,487 

8 

III     IV 

234 

245 

9 

IV 

5,635 

8,223 

10  

For  Special 

Purposes 

412 

483 

TOTAL 35,086         43,394 

The  great  increase  in  the  number  of  low  class  cars  shows  the 
tendency  in  Germany  to  provide  the  most  primitive  sort  of  pas- 
senger accommodations  for  the  German  people. 

The  small  number  of  cars  containing  third  class  compartments 
in  connection  with  first  class  compartments  indicates  what  a  small 
proportion  of  German  passengers  of  the  third  class  can  be  accom- 
modated in  first  class  trains. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  will  be  seen  how  complex  are  the 
passenger  conditions  in  Germany  and  how  absolutely  intolerable 
would  such  class  distinctions  be  in  America.  The  comforts  and 
conveniences  which  are  reserved  for  the  first  two  classes  in  Germany 
are  in  no  respect  equal  to  what  is  common  to  every  passenger  in 
America  on  equal  terms.  Only  what  are  known  as  their  trains 
"de  luxe"  are  comparable  to  our  Pullman  car  service  and  nothing 
they  boast  approaches  the  special  service  of  our  "limited"  trains. 

PASSENGER  STATISTICS  FOR  GERMANY. 

Now  let  us  see  how  this  division  of  passenger  traffic  works  out 
in  actual  operation.  The  following  table  gives  the  number  of  pas- 
sengers, passenger  .miles,  length  of  journey,  and  average  receipts 
per  mile  of  the  different  grades,  from  the  official  report  for  1904: 


30 


GOVERNMENT  ROADS,  31,043  MILES. 


Class. 


Passengers 
carried 

(thousands) 

1 3,568 

2 88,685 

3 524,780 

4 347,849 

5 13,675 


All  classes.    978,557 


Class. 


Passengers 

carried 
(thousands' 

88 
3,306 


3 45,409 

4 1,343 

5 832 

All   classes  50,978 


TOTAL  ALL 

ROADS  .    1,029,535,000 


Passengers 

Average 

Percent- 

carried one 

Percent- 

Average 

Passenger 

age. 
) 

mile, 
(thousands) 

age. 

journey 
(miles)  . 

receipts  per 
mile,  cents. 

0.36 

206,932 

1.44 

57.99 

2.80 

9.06 

1,765,763 

12.32 

19.90 

1.70 

53.63 

6,663,502 

46.48 

12.69 

1.03 

35.55 

5,041,036 

35.16 

14.48 

.72 

1.40 

659,259 

4.60 

48.21 

.40 

100.00 

14,336,492 

100.00 

14.65 

1.00 

PRIVATE  COMPANIES,  2, 

476  MILES. 

Passengers 

Average 

Percent- 

carried one 

Percent- 

Average 

Passenger 

age. 

mile, 
(thousands)  , 

age. 

journey, 
(mile). 

receipts  per 
mile,  cents. 

0.17 

2,075 

.48 

23.59 

2.70 

6.48 

46,899 

10.78 

14.18 

1.50 

89.08 

354,385 

81.46 

7.80 

1.02 

2.64 

12,403 

2.85 

9.24 

.92 

1.63 

19,297 

4.43 

23.18 

.41 

100.00 

435,060 

100.00 

8.53 

1.06 

14,771,552,000 


14.34 


1.00 


These  tables  prove  that  cheap  passenger  rates  in  Germany  are 
only  possible  because  over  90  per  cent,  of  German  passengers,  both 
on  government  and  private  roads  travel  third  class  or  lower,  and  put 
up  with  accommodation  and  conveniences  below  the  poorest  service 
in  the  United  States. 

To  use  the  words  of  the  Frankfurter  Zeitung,  discussing  the  pro- 
posed reform  of  German  railway  rates,  "The  present  system  of 
rates  in  Germany  is  excessively  complicated;  each  state  railway  has 
its  own  tariffs,  with  and  without  free  luggage,  with  or  without  extra 
charges  for  express  trains  and  special  tickets,'7  etc. 

Only  on  the  express  trains  is  comfortable  rolling  stock  used  and 
for  these  there  is  a  supplementary  charge. 

There  are  no  conveniences  at  all  in  the  fourth  class  cars  by  which 
35  per  cent,  of  the  passengers  travel,  and  the  third  class  cars  which 
carry  53  per  cent,  of  the  traffic  are  fitted  up  with  'unupholstered 
wooden  seats.  The  passengers  by  these  latter  cars  have  hitherto 
been  excluded  from  the  dining  cars. 


31 

Under  the  new  regulations  the  allowance  of  55  pounds  of  luggage 
to  passengers  of  the  first  three  classes  is  to  be  abolished  and  a  tariff 
by  zones  and  weight  substituted. 

As  has  been  said  one-third  of  the  passenger  traffic  on  German 
roads  is  in  cars  described  as  "  box  freight  cars  sometimes  with  and 
sometimes  without  benches." 

Fares  and  accommodations  on  German  railways  cater  to  class 
and  social  distinctions  which  are  not  recognized  in  the  United  States. 

For  anything  approaching  the  accommodation,  speed  and  con- 
veniences of  the  average  American  railway  service  the  German 
traveler  pays  from  35  to  40  per  cent,  more  per  mile. 

It  also  appears  that  there  is  no  material  difference  in  the  receipts 
per  passenger  mile  between  the  government  and  private  roads. 
When  it  is  considered  that  the  government  has  engrossed  nearly  all 
the  profitable  lines  of  travel  and  pays  no  taxes,  it  is  surprising  that 
the  difference  should  be  so  slight. 

Measured  by  economic  conditions,  as  represented  in  the  average 
income  of  labor  in  the  two  countries,  an  average  passenger  rate  of 
1  cent  a  mile  in  Germany  is  equal  to  2  cents  a  mile  in  the  United 
States,  with  this  difference  that  it  pays  for  a  board  seat  or  no  seat 
at  all  in  slow  trains  in  Germany  and  an  upholstered  seat  in  all  but 
the  Pullman  trains  in  America. 

Moreover  the  average  freight  rate  in  Germany  in  1904  was 
1.42  cents  per  ton  mile  against  only  .78  cent  in  the  United  States  the 
same  year. 

COST  OF  GERMAN  RAILWAYS. 

In  capital  cost  the  German  railways  are  as  much  beyond  the 
American  roads  as  they  are  behind  them  in  comforts  and  conven- 
iences of  passenger  travel,  as  the  following  statement  shows: 

COST  OF  CONSTRUCTION  OF  GERMAN  RAILWAYS  TO  YEAR  1904. 

Ownership.  Mileage.  Cost.  Per  Mile. 

Government 31,043         $3,253,063,271  $104,792 

Private 2,376       .      -138,104,287  55,770 

TOTAL 33,519         $3,391,167,558  $101,170 

NET  CAPITAL  OF  THE  RAILWAYS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  FOR  THE  YEAR  1904. 

Mileage.  Cosf.  Capital  per  mile. 

205,605x  $10,711,794,278  $52,100 

xExclusive  of  trackage  rights. 


32 

Whole  volumes  could  not  demonstrate  more  convincingly  that 
in  capital  cost  the  railways  of  America  do  not  quite  equal  half  the 
cost  of  construction  of  the  government  railways  of  Germany.  But 
these  figures  do  not  show  how  year  after  year  the  cost  of  construction 
in  Germany  grows  by  charging  thereto  various  items  in  the  way  of 
renewals,  replacements  and  improvements  which  in  America  are 
charged  to  operating  expenses.  How  this  has  affected  the  capital 
investment  in  Germany  is  shown  in  the  following  statement  of  the 
mileage  and  cost  of  construction  in  1898  and  1904: 


1898. 
1904 


Increase 

Increase  per  cent . 


Mileage. 
29,932 
33,519 

Cost  of 
Construction. 

$2,867,642,686 
3,391,167,558 

Cost  per  mile. 
$    96,071 
101,170 

3,587 
12.00 

$    523,524,872 
18.2 

$      5,099 

In  other  words,  Germany  has  added  only  3,587  miles  of  line  to 
her  railway  system  in  six  years  at  a  cost  o^f  over  half  a  billion  or  more 
than  $145,000  per  mile. 

It  is  easy  to  finance  railways  and  keep  down  operating  expenses 
when  the  government  owner  can  add  renewals  and  replacements  to 
cost  of  construction  as  is  done  in  Germany. 

Finally  there  were  582,369  employes  in  the  service  of  the 
German  railways  in  1904,  whose  pay  averaged  $323  per  year.  The 
120,051  laborers  in  the  maintenance  of  way  department  averaged 
only  $175  a  year,  or  slightly  over  50  cents  a  day. 

In  the  United  States  in  1904,  there  were  1,296,121  railway 
employes  whose  pay  averaged  $631  .per  year;  of  these  201,708  in  the 
class  receiving  the  lowest  wages  averaged  $514  per  year. 

CONCLUSIONS. 

It  only  remains  to  be  said: 

That  except  in  a  few  densely  inhabited  sections  of  the  Union 
where  they  already  have  passenger  rates  averaging  below  2  cents  a 
mile,  conditions  in  the  United  States  render  that  rate,  even  as  a 
mean,  unprofitable. 

That  wherever  conditions  guarantee  an  average  of  something 
over  50  passengers  per  train  of  five  cars  with  regularity,  passenger 
traffic  can  bejnade  to  pay  its  way. 

That  wherever  such  traffic  is  divided  between  so  many  trains 
as  to  reduce  the  average  train  load  below  45,  it  becomes  unprofitable, 
and  is  run  at  the  expense  of  the  freight  traffic,  with  which  it  inter- 
feres more  seriously  with  every  added  passenger  train. 


33 

That  for  the  average  receipts  of  2  cents  per  passenger  mile  the 
American  traveler  gets  as  good  accommodations  as  the  average  first 
class  passenger  who  pays  3.2  cents  per  mile  in  Great  Britain  or  2.8 
cents  in  Germany. 

That  in  proportion  to  the  pay  of  railway  employes  and  the 
earnings  of  all  classes  in  America,  compared  with  that  in  Europe,  2 
cents  here  is  the  equivalent  of  1  cent  there,  and  yet  for  an  average 
of  2  cents  the  American  railways  furnish  a  first  class  service  open  to 
all  classes,  while  for  I  cent  the  European  roads  furnish  only  third 
class  accommodations  on  slow  trains. 

CHICAGO,  March  15,  1906. 


34 


ADDENDA  A. 

Showing  the  increase  in  the  number  and  speed  of  passenger 
trains  over  the  different  divisions  of  track  of  the  Chicago  and  North- 
Western  Railway  in  Wisconsin,  between  the  years  1890  and  1905: 
From  Chicago  to  Madison — 

In  1890  there  were  4  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 
27.5  to  31.0  miles  per  hour; 

In  1905  there  were  6  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 
34.9  to  42.8  miles  per  hour; 
From  Madison  to  Elroy — 

In  1890  there  were  4  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 

26.5  to  34.0  miles  per  hour; 

In  1905  there  were  5  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 
33.3  to  42.9  miles  per  hour; 
From  Elroy  to  Winona — 

In  1890  there  were  2  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 
27.3  to  31.2  miles  per  hour; 

In  1905  there  were  3  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 
30.0  to  39.1  miles  per  hour; 
From  Chicago  to  Milwaukee — 

In  1890  there  were  6  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 

34.0  to  38.6  miles  per  hour; 

In  1905  there  were  9  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 

40.1  to  46.5  miles  per  hour; 
From  Milwaukee  to  Fond  du  Lac — 

In  1890  there  were  4  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 

30.6  to  35.8  miles  per  hour; 

In  1905  there  were  8  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 
33.8  to  43.6  miles  per  hour; 
From  Fond  du  Lac  to  Green  Bay — 

In  1891  there  were  3  trains  daily  varying  in  average  spaed  from 

29.8  to  31.9  miles  per  hour; 

In  1905  there  were  7  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 

30.9  to  39.1  miles  per  hour; 
From  Green  Bay  to  Marinette — 

In  1890  there  were  3  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 
25.3  to  30.4  miles  per  hour; 

In  1905  there  were  5  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 
33.1  to  39.8  miles  per  hour; 
From  Milwaukee  to  Madison — 


35 

In  1890  there  were  3  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 
30.4  to  33.1  miles  per  hour; 

In  1905  there  were  4  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 
33.1  to  38.7  miles  per  hour; 
From  Madison  to  Lancaster — 

In  1890  there  was  1  daily  train  having  a  speed  of  27.0  miles  per 
hour; 

In  1905  there  were  2  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 

25.1  to  30.1  miles  per  hour; 
From  Montjort  Jc.  to  Galena — 

In    1890  there  was    train  daily  having  an    average    speed  of 
31.0  miles  per  hour; 

In  1905  there  were  2  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 
25.4  to  31.7  miles  per  hour; 
From  Sheboygan  to  Fond  du  Lac — 

In  1891  there  was  one  train  daily  having  an  average  speed  of 

23.2  miles  per  hour; 

In  1905  there  were  2  tr^ns  daily  each  having  an  average  speed 
of  29.5  miles  per  hour; 
From  Fond  du  Lac  to  Princeton — 

In  1891  there  was  1  train  daily  having  an  average  speed  of  27.1 
miles  per  hour; 

In  1905  there  were  2  daily  trains  varying  in  average  speed  from 

32.0  to  33.1  miles  per  hour; 
From  Appleton  Jc.  to  Eland  Jc. — 

In  1892  there  were  3  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 

29.6  to  32.5  miles  per  hour; 

In  1905  there  were  4  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 

25.3  to  33.7  miles  per  hour; 
From  Eland  Jc.  to  Rhinelander — 

In  1892  there  were  2  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 

23.1  to  28.3  miles  per  hour; 

In  1905  there  were  3  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 

30.7  to  34.3  miles  per  hour; 
From  Rhinelander  to  Ashland — 

In  1892  there  was  1  train  daily  having  an  average  speed  of  28.4 
miles  per  hour; 

In  1905  there  were  2  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 

29.4  to  33.0  miles  per  hour; 
From  Eland  Jc.  to  Marshfield— 

In  1892  there  were  2  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 
28.7  to  31.5  miles  per  hour; 


In  1905  there  were  3  trains  daily  varying  in  average  speed  from 
26.8  to  30.0  miles  per  hour. 

NOTE. 

The  remarkable  increase  in  the  speed  and  frequency  of  the 
passenger  service  of  the  Chicago  and  North- Western  Railway  in 
Wisconsin,  shown  above,  has  been  duplicated  by  the  Chicago,  Mil- 
waukee and  St.  Paul  Railway  over  its  network  of  equal  mileage  in 
that  state. 

Coincident  with  this  improvement  of  the  intrastate  service  in 
Wisconsin,  has  been  the  wonderful  transformation  in  the  inter- 
state service  between  Chicago  and  Milwaukee — on  the  two  great 
passenger  arteries  connecting  Wisconsin  with  the  rest  of  the  Union. 

In  1882,  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Railway  had 
only  four  passenger  trains  daily  between  these  points,  with  a  mini- 
mum schedule  of  three  hours  and  35  minutes. 

In  1906,  the  same  road  has.  11  trains  each  way  daily,  and  the 
minimum  schedule  has  been  cut  to  1  hour  and  45  minutes;  with  2 
hours  6  minutes  as  the  average  for  all  eleven  through  trains. 

The  passenger  service  of  the  Chicago  and  North- Western  Rail- 
way between  Chicago  and  Milwaukee  has  undergone  a  similar 
development. 

What  has  been  done  by  these  two  railways  for  Wisconsin  merely 
illustrates  what  all  other  important  railway  systems  are  doing  in 
almost  every  state  west  of  Chicago. 

With  a  two  cent  maximum  fare  the  extension  of  such  improved 
passenger  service  would  be  discontinued,  even  if  some  of  its  least 
profitable  features  were  not  abandoned. 

S.  T. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 
LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


I 


LD  21A-50m-9,'58 
(6889slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


